Fort Worth ISD closes schools indefinitely

The Fort Worth school district is planning for the long-term to have kids learn at home. Until now, the district had only extended spring break.

FORT WORTH, Texas - Public schools in Fort Worth will stay closed until further notice.

Until now, the district had only extended spring break another week and then added a third week off – canceling school through April 3.

Now the district is trying to comply with the county’s restrictions and it closed schools until further notice.

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In a recorded statement, Superintendent Dr. Kent Scribner said school is canceled until officials believe they can safely bring students back.

A spokesman said that’s at least until May 15. It could be longer depending on how the county’s restrictions play out at that time.

Fort Worth ISD plans to ramp up online learning for its students, making sure each family has the necessary devices or even a hot spot to access the curriculum.

Teachers will soon be reaching out to students.

“If the virus is in our community, it’s probably amongst us. So we want to make sure that all of our employees, all of our students, all of our visitors to our campuses and all of our families are as safe as they can be and are not going to be affected by something that we might be doing,” said Clint Bond, Fort Worth ISD’s spokesman.

The big questions now is graduation and what that will look like.

The school year is scheduled to run through May 28 so schools possibly reopen by then. At this point, the district hasn’t made a decision about graduation ceremonies.

Superintendent Scribner acknowledged the district’s teenagers and said he knows they want to spend time with their friends. He said he understands and knows that teenagers can be stubborn.

So with a smile, he stubbornly asked them to stay home.

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